God Was With Us: Deliverance, Healing, and Praise

The reason that date wasn't the end date on my tombstone is because God was there. The only reason I'm healed is because he was there. Yeah. I may have healed crooked. I've been through some stuff that changed how I see the world, but I'm healed nevertheless. Some of us have had our heart broken, but your heart still works. Some of us have had our trust betrayed, but your trust still works because God was with you. [01:12:41] (37 seconds)  #HealedByGod

My car made a left bead on towards the median. And all I can remember when I looked at myself in the rearview mirror is a simple prayer. God, please don't let me die. I'll spare you, the specificities of the gory details, but needless to say, if God was not with me then, I wouldn't be here preaching today. [00:41:17] (27 seconds)  #MiracleSurvivor

And there's somebody in this room now who you doubted the presence of God because of the trauma of what you faced. It was so dark, you thought surely God abandoned you there. And maybe this morning as I was talking, the holy spirit was speaking. And maybe now you have a different perspective. Not that it didn't hurt, not that it that we call it wrong right, but that the only reason I made it through is because God was there. [01:12:00] (41 seconds)  #GodNeverLeft

I am not offering you religion. Religion is filled with rules. You can and can't break fear mongering control. I'm not offering you religion. What I'm offering you is an authentic relationship with the one who gave you the breath in your lungs. That's what I'm offering. Only am I offering you that, I'm also offering you an opportunity to be a part of a community who celebrates this with a weekly rhythm. You see, community is important to sustaining values. [01:14:10] (42 seconds)  #RelationshipOverReligion

If you pay attention, you'll notice that my nose healed crooked. But I'm glad that even though it healed crooked, it still healed, and it still works. Is there anybody who's grateful for the fact that you may have some broken things in your story, but God, by his grace, let it heal anyhow. You ought to put your hands together and give God praise for the fact that he was with you and brought you through. [00:42:54] (28 seconds)  #HealedButImperfect

Now, the only advantage I have in the room is that I'm the one with the microphone. The truth is we all have a personal testimony of a date that could have been something worse than it turned out to be. And the reason you're sitting here looking at me with a open bible on your lap is because the same way God was with me, God was with you too. And I wish that we can pass the mic around the room because the truth is we'll be here to this time next week telling the stories of people who look at us and can't tell all that God has brought us through. Is there anybody who can give God praise at the Concord Church that God was with us? [00:41:45] (42 seconds)  #PassTheMicTestimony

So the devil says, well, you a bird brain just like your auntie now. So I tell you what I'm a do. I'm a put this trap near something I know you can't say no. And we all got a nectar that we can't say no to. Forbidden rind in our teeth. And so the devil will drench the trap there, and here we are. You know you're out of pocket when you're asking the Lord to forgive you for what you're about to do. [01:05:01] (38 seconds)  #TemptationTrap

Not just do we reflect on his presence. Number two, we we are rescued by the power of God. I moved through this real quick. Verse six through eight gives us lines of of power. Verse six says, he's our protector. It says, blessed be the Lord who's not given us his prey to their teeth. Our enemy, Peter tells us, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, but resist him firm in the faith, knowing that the same is being accomplished by your brothers who are in the world. God is the one who protects us as shepherd from the predators. [01:01:00] (33 seconds)  #GodOurProtector

Not only is he our protector, but then verse seven says he's our savior. Meaning, sometimes we'll get in a trap that we can't get out of, and he's got to save us from the trap. Verse eight says, he's our maker, which is to say if he is our maker, he has a knowing of what's in us and and a knowing of what's around us. And we can rely on the fact that if he programmed me, he is the one who can also reprogram me. He he made heaven and earth. [01:01:32] (32 seconds)  #MakerSaviorProtector

Because the fowler knows you made out of the same stuff the bird before you was, so you got the same weakness. So if I just put the trap in the same spot, I know what's in you more than you know what's in you. So I'm a just put the trap near what you can't say no to. You ever wonder how the devil knows your tendencies better than you do? It's because the devil used the same trap on your granddaddy and your grandma and your dad the the the devil has studied your bloodline better than you have. [01:04:32] (30 seconds)  #GenerationalTemptation

You will know you're going into the wilderness if the Lord just got you out of sin, but ain't got the sin out of you yet. It's cool. He gonna be with you in the environment. Is there anybody who can give God praise for the fact that whenever I come to some water, I got a God who can get me through it. [00:53:06] (19 seconds)  #GodWithYouInWilderness

The reason you're looking at me with that tone of voice is because maybe you don't know what a fowler is. A fowler is a professional bird catcher. A fowler studies the tendency of birds. A fowler knows the appetites of birds, and a fowler studies the patterns of birds. And so what a fowler will do is watch a bird to study it and then preempt what that bird is gonna do and then put a snare or a trap where the fowler knows that bird is gonna be. [01:02:38] (34 seconds)  #WatchTheFowler

Because see, gotta be present when your enemy show up and gotta be present when environment show up. Here's what I've learned as I'm trying to, be discerning about how the spirit helps us in spiritual warfare. The devil will use two things to try to destroy you, people or predicaments. If he can't use people and sometimes you the people he tried to use to destroy you, that's another sermon for another day. If you can't use people, he'll use situations. And sometimes, the two will go together in a way that you can't tell who is what until the Lord bring you through that thing. [00:48:57] (46 seconds)  #PeopleOrPredicaments

when the waters try to overwhelm us. If you weren't with us then, we couldn't sing this song now. So even if it's difficult to see you now, we believe that the same God who was with us then is the same God whoever shall be. And god is not just present as as a silent contributor to your story. God is present as a divine force who is providentially moving things behind the scenes and on the scenes in a way that you won't see till he open your eyes to see it. And sometimes it's not till you get through a season that you look back and you see everything his hand was doing here. [00:47:49] (40 seconds)  #GodMovesBehindTheScenes

Some of y'all are, reverend, all I see in front of me is water, but what I don't know is am I going into the wilderness or am I coming out of the wilderness? Here's a sign you'll know you're coming out of the wilderness. You'll know I'm coming out of the wilderness if the faithlessness I had in the season before has now died, and I got more faith than I've ever had, and I'm ready for what God has for me next. [00:52:42] (25 seconds)  #EmergingWithFaith

The swollen waters would have gone over our soul. If you read it too fast, you'll miss it. This is poetry. These are lyrics. This is music. See the scene. It says waters, streams, swollen waters. Waters, streams, swollen waters. What's waters, Rev? Think think pond. Think something I can step in and I can wade through because it's still water. Where stream, reverend, stream is water with a undercurrent. [00:53:36] (37 seconds)  #RisingWatersImagery

What the fowler does is use the bird's appetite against the bird. So the bird has a desire for a nectar or a particular type of flower or fruit. What the follower would do is take a snare like a loosely drenched rope and drape it over a branch, But he will make sure to keep the rope near the nectar because he know the bird has a bird brain and won't be paying attention to what's happening on the branch because after it purchased, it's distracted by the nectar. [01:03:12] (38 seconds)  #JesusBehindTheTree

03/19/2007 may not be, an important day for you, but for me, I am grateful that it was not the date on the end of my tombstone. I woke up early that morning, and after a restless night, I decided to press my way to work. And I got on 166 in Atlanta, Georgia going west, and I realized after a few minutes that I was still tired. So I figured I would try a few things to keep myself awake. The first thing I did was I picked up the phone to call my my girlfriend, and she didn't pick up because it was so early in the morning, she was asleep. [00:38:52] (38 seconds)  #WokeByTheCrash

Truth is nothing worked. I found myself in rush hour traffic in Atlanta, Georgia. The last thing I remember is Exit 13. The next thing I remember is Exit 15, which means I drove for two miles in morning rush hour traffic at about 50 miles per hour, and I do not remember those two miles. The only thing that woke me up was the crash I caused. A rear end of the car caused that car to spin out and face back towards traffic. I looked in the rearview mirror, all the cars behind us had stopped about a 100 yards back, which means they probably saw me swerving. [00:40:32] (44 seconds)  #WatersWouldHaveOverwhelmed

God in heaven, we thank you for the sacred time we've spent at your feet. Thank you for your word, which has given us the occasion to recognize that you were with us. That's the truth. We wouldn't have made it through some things we did if it were not for your presence with us, so we thank you. I pray now. I intercede for the person who's had anger towards you, frustration towards you, about dark environments or enemies that came against him. And they in the moment didn't see you there, but maybe now they do. [01:16:12] (35 seconds)  #HealingAndCommunity